Written for The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition, Season Four (Round 5)
Team: Puddlemere United
Position: Seeker
Prompt: Broomstick
Word Count without A/N: 1,023 (Google Docs)
Broomsticks were a very important thing for almost every witch or wizard.
There were the Professional Quidditch players who would be lost without one, then there were the over-excited school children who played for recreation and those who simply needed a broomstick for transportation.
Depending on what you needed the broom for, you would need different features. A Quidditch player's broom would have to react to small movements and be able to reach great heights and speeds, whereas the brooms that children learned to fly on shouldn't have any of these features.
Thus, it was no real surprise that a lot of businesses revolved around broomsticks.
Different companies focused on creating diverse models with specific qualities in mind? No one could produce a model that was suitable for everything, so every company focused on a different aspect. Some on comfort, some on speed, others on agility.
Six broomstick production companies were started during the twentieth century in Britain alone, starting with the Cleansweep Broomstick Company in 1926. They were the first to ever mass produce broomsticks.
The average witch or wizard, however, didn't want to put a lot of effort in their choices. Leonard Lynch realised this in 1954 while he was still attending Hogwarts and, as he had always been interested in journalism, decided to found a magazine with the name Which Broomstick? after he graduated. The magazine became an instant success.
Broomsticks, no matter what model, needed to be properly cared for. Consequently, Franklin Meyer started to produce the so-called Broomstick Care Kit, which included everything you might need to properly care for your broom.
Oliver Wood knew all this, of course. He had read his father's subscription of Which Broomstick? for almost as long as he could remember (the magazine was the only reason he had learnt to read as early as he did) and before that, he had begged until someone would read it out to him.
Yet, here he was, standing before the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies, feeling completely lost. It wasn't that he did not know what broom he wanted, oh no—it was that they would never be able to afford it.
As his father was a halfblood from a minor house and his mother was a muggleborn, they never were that well off (though it wasn't as bad as the Weasleys). They were already saving money for the Quidditch World Cup in three years and Oliver already had a perfectly fine broomstick. He owned a well cared for Air Wave Gold that worked perfectly fine, yet Oliver couldn't help but dream of owning a Nimbus 2000.
It was the fastest broomstick currently in production, after all. How could he not imagine himself owning one and not letting a single Quaffle through the rings ever again? If he owned a Nimbus 2000, the opposing teams would have no chance to win (provided they managed to find a better Seeker than the one they had been stuck with last year).
Oliver had done his best to save money to buy one since the company had first announced they were building it. He had even gotten a job in the muggle world. Granted, he only delivered newspapers, but he hadn't been able to find any other job and he needed the money.
Despite his best efforts, he had not managed to save enough. He wasn't even close to being able to afford the broom by the time his parents took him to Diagon Alley to buy the supplies for his OWL year.
But Oliver was not a person who gave up easily.
Instead of simply spending the money he had already earned, he continued saving it. If it didn't work his year, he would simply raise money until next year and then he'd be able to buy one.
When Harry Potter managed to impress Professor McGonagall so much that she let him join the team—despite the fact that he was a first year who broke the school rules—Oliver was ecstatic.
When Harry got a Nimbus 2000, Oliver's enthusiasm—that had already been gigantic before—almost quadrupled. He couldn't wait for the season! With the team they had put together, it was almost impossible for them to lose!
Yet he couldn't help but feel a bit of resent towards Harry. Sure, the boy was very nice and a great Seeker, but Oliver still felt envy. Potter hadn't even known of Quidditch before the summer (scandalous as that was), and he already owned an international-standard broomstick, while Oliver had worked hard and still was not close to owning one.
But Oliver knew that envy wouldn't do anything to bring him closer to his goal of owning a Nimbus 2000 too. Only work could.
As it was impossible to continue with his muggle job during the school year, he thought of something else.
After asking Madam Hooch for permission, Oliver began to teach those who had not managed to completely learn flying during the compulsory lessons, but still desired to learn (and were willing to pay a sickle per lesson).
He told his friends and family to give him money for his birthday (and Christmas) and didn't go to any Hogsmeade weekends that year—instead choosing to catch up with his homework, study or plan strategies during this time.
Eventually, he managed to save enough money to finally buy the Nimbus 2000.
Unfortunately, this was overshadowed by the Nimbus 2001s that the Slytherin team had been 'donated' (or rather bribed with).
A few years later, after the Battle of Hogwarts, after Voldemort was defeated, Oliver got prompted.
He was now the actual keeper of Puddlemere United, not just the reserve!
Two days after the change was made public, a broomstick (not just any broomstick, a Starsweeper XXI!) arrived for Oliver, despite the fact that he had not yet ordered a new broom.
Oliver had been horribly confused—until he found the letter that accompanied the broom.
Hey Oliver,
I know you worked hard for that Nimbus, but no broom can last forever. Take this as a thank you for being the best Captain I ever had (don't tell Angelina, please—she would castrate me)!
Harry Potter
Please tell me what you think!
~Marvelgeek42